Monsanto protesters arrested outside shareholder meeting

At least 11 protesters were arrested outside of Monsanto’s headquarters on Tuesday as they rallied in favor of shareholder resolutions that would require the company to alter its approach to genetically-modified organisms.

More than two-dozen protesters, one of which was a Monsanto
shareholder himself, endured cold temperatures in Creve Coeur,
Missouri as they pushed the biotech company to work with the
federal government towards efforts to label food featuring
genetically-modified organisms (GMO). Another resolution, meanwhile, would
have required Monsanto to provide a contamination report on
non-GMO crops.

Both measures failed with less than 10 percent support after
Monsanto’s board recommended shooting down the proposals.

When the results came in, the atmosphere surrounding the rally
became much more aggressive, with protesters using five cars to
block the entrance to Monsanto’s building. According to the
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, some locked and
chained themselves to cars, while police spent about an hour
clearing the area and making arrests.

At least 10 individuals were arrested on misdemeanor charges.
Local police chief Glenn Eidmann told the Post-Dispatch that no
injuries were reported, nor was any property damaged.

Adam Eidinger, the shareholder who introduced the labeling
resolution, told St. Louis Public Radio that despite his
proposal’s defeat, he expects the opposition to Monsanto’s
policies only to grow over the coming year.

"We’ve thrown the gauntlet down and we’re expecting a year
from now that more than 10,000 people will be here if they don’t
label GMO foods," Eidinger said. According to him, the
protest ended with 11 arrests in all.

Those against the propagation of GMOs believe they are unsafe for
human consumption and that the altered seeds contribute to the
rise of pesticide-resistant weeds. Supporters, meanwhile, argue
that GMOs are not only safe, but also essential to building crops
that can survive in the face of disease.

At the shareholders meeting, company chairman and CEO Hugh Grant
said Monsanto needs to improve its communication with the public
over GMOs, but added that its advocacy for voluntary labeling was
still the right approach.

"This voluntary labeling approach empowers people who may
choose to avoid GM ingredients a choice that some people prefer,
but without imposing new costs on people who don’t choose organic
or non-GM products," Grant said, according to St. Louis
Public Radio.

The second resolution, meanwhile, concerned organic farmers whose
crops could potentially be contaminated by the drift of
pesticides used on neighboring GMO farms. Critics argue that
farmers battling contamination issues should be compensated, but
Monsanto claims the Securities and Exchange Commission already
mandates the kind of risk assessment proposed in the resolution.

While opinion concerning the impact of GMOs on health is divided,
multiple polls have found that vast majorities of Americans believe food containing
genetically altered ingredients should be labeled.

Efforts to turn that support into action have fizzled, however,
as labeling initiatives in California and Washington failed amid
a flood of corporate money that many claim turned public opinion
against the measures. As RT reported last year, even successful
ballot initiatives in Connecticut and Maine may not go into effect since
their implementation is tied to the passage of similar laws in
other Northeastern states.